Winemaker Notes
Porto Ferreira Dona Antonia 10 Year Old Port has a deep tawny hue with red hints. Its aroma is characterized by an excellent balance between the quality of its original grapes and wine (noticeable in its floral and ripe fruit aromas) and its aging through oxidation in wood (which gives it spicy and nutty aromas). In the mouth, the classic and fresh style of the Ferreira brand is conspicuous, achieving a fine balance between the different sensations in the wine body and in the long final in the mouth.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Some toffee and caramel with plum jam in both the nose and on the palate. Medium body, full sweetness and a fresh finish. Real 10-year-old character. Drink now.
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Decanter
Markedly low acidity here contributes to a voluptuous, sweeter style and seemingly fuller body: ripe, rolling, figgy and expressive – very pleasant indeed.
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Wine Enthusiast
This rich wine is balanced and ripe with spice, sweet sultana and raisin fruitiness and a light shot of acidity. The aftertaste brings out fresh red fruits that are cut by the spirit and acidity to leave a full feeling in the mouth.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.